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This is for my optional essay for TMDSAS. Please let me know which one you guys prefer.
1. I was a DACA student. I enrolled at a university but had to withdraw my first semester because my parents were given the opportunity to let me go back to my home country and get a green card. If my application wasn't approved at the U.S. embassy of my home country, I would have been unable to come back to the States and would have had to adjust to a completely new way of life. Luckily, I was able to get approved and came back to the U.S. with a green card.
1. I was a DACA student. I enrolled at a university but had to withdraw my first semester because my parents were given the opportunity to let me go back to my home country and get a green card. If my application wasn't approved at the U.S. embassy of my home country, I would have been unable to come back to the States and would have had to adjust to a completely new way of life. Luckily, I was able to get approved and came back to the U.S. with a green card.
- Issue: This could be a good essay, however, I am a bit disconnected from this entire experience. I didn't really notice my lack of citizenship and didn't really understand the concept of being undocumented during my childhood. I'm embarrassed to admit, but even during high school, I didn't really take notice even though my parents would constantly bicker about it and would throw thousands of dollars at immigration lawyers to help get this sorted out.
- Issue: Clearly, the most obvious issue is I am discussing a chronic illness. I am worried that adcoms will view it negatively. I purposely did not include it in my personal statement (I intended on including it initially. However, after some pondering, not including it made it a stronger essay because it allowed me to reflect on why I wanted to be a physician more).
- Issue: I realize there are many more people in worse situations than me. I went from going on vacations relatively frequently, to worrying about whether or not my parents would be able to pay their mortage and my rent. They want me to do well in school and working full-time would not have made it possible for me. I work part-time and pay for everything else. I just don't want to seem like I'm reaching for hardship circumstances when I'm clearly not doing terribly. (I have an apartment, don't ever go hungry, only work part-time, etc.)